TLDR
- Arthur Hayes, founder of BitMEX, has sold all his altcoin holdings including NEAR, Hyperliquid, and Worldcoin
- Hayes believes the AI investment boom is a bubble that will burst between 2027 and 2028
- He warns that when the AI trade unwinds, Bitcoin will not be a safe haven and may fall too
- Hayes predicts central banks will print money after the AI collapse, which he believes will eventually push Bitcoin to $1 million
- He now holds only Bitcoin long-term and keeps cash in US Treasury Bills
Arthur Hayes, the founder of crypto exchange BitMEX, has sold all of his altcoin positions and is warning that the current artificial intelligence investment craze could drag down crypto markets when it ends.
Arthur Hayes: Selling Altcoins Because the AI Trade is About to Peak
On June 13, 2026, Arthur Hayes @CryptoHayes stated in an interview with Cointelegraph that he had liquidated his altcoin positions, including HYPE, NEAR, and Worldcoin. Reflecting on his previous macro… pic.twitter.com/LCM4PgRuCp
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) June 21, 2026
Hayes made the comments in a recent appearance on the Bankless podcast and in a separate interview, laying out his view that AI has pulled capital away from crypto and that the unwinding of that trade will not be painless for digital assets.
Hayes Dumps Altcoins
Hayes confirmed he has exited positions in Near Protocol, Hyperliquid, and Worldcoin, among others. He said the risks had started to outweigh the potential returns.
He described his current position as “permanently Bitcoin long,” with his cash held in US Treasury Bills to earn interest income.
His exit from AI-adjacent crypto tokens is being read by some traders as a directional signal. Near Protocol and Worldcoin both sit at the crossroads of AI and blockchain, so dropping them suggests Hayes expects the entire AI-crypto theme to deflate, not just rotate.
He also said he would put any new capital into Ethereum rather than Bitcoin, calling it a cheaper and more attractive setup at current prices.
The AI Bubble Warning
Hayes compared today’s AI investment frenzy to the railroad boom of the 19th century. He said companies are making flawed assumptions about chip lifespans, assigning five to six years to hardware that becomes outdated every two years.
He believes this math will hit markets hard by 2027 or 2028, and that the resulting credit collapse could be larger than the 2008 mortgage crisis.
Hayes pointed to three specific risks. First, rising energy costs threaten the profit models of AI companies. Second, US policy could shift suddenly against AI firms. Third, the upcoming IPOs of Anthropic and OpenAI will absorb huge amounts of institutional money, draining capital from crypto and other high-risk assets.
He said AI has effectively stolen oxygen from crypto. Investors chasing AI stocks that can multiply 20 times in six months have little reason to buy Bitcoin.
Bitcoin Will Not Be a Safe Harbor
Despite his long-term bullishness on Bitcoin, Hayes warned it will not escape unharmed if the AI trade collapses. He said Bitcoin would be “thrown out with the bathwater” in a broad de-risking event.
His view is that central banks will respond to an AI bust by printing large amounts of money. That new liquidity, he argues, will eventually flow into Bitcoin because it cannot be directed back into an AI sector that has already failed.
That is the scenario in which he sees Bitcoin reaching $1 million. But the path there, in his view, runs through a painful unwind first.
AI-themed assets have been drawing capital even within crypto. AI-linked BRC-20 NFTs recorded $17.8 million in weekly sales recently, showing how the AI narrative has pulled attention and money away from layer-1 tokens and DeFi.
Hayes has walked away from that trade. Whether others follow before the peak becomes clear remains to be seen.
